By Millicent Senava Mannah
The Women Lead On Advocacy for Sustainable Development (WOLAFOSUD), with support from the Sierra Leone Adult Education Association (SLADEA), has organized a seven days training for 350 secondary school pupils (male and female) from the 18th to 26th May, 2023. The training is part of the organization’s move in ‘’Preventing Adolescents Against SGBV in the Mamarah-Makolo Communities’’ was held at Mamarah Village in Koya Chiefdom, Port Loko District.
Giving an overview of the organization, the Chairperson of the aforementioned organization, Betty Mans-Kallon, stated that it is a Community Based Organization located in Koya Chiefdom, Port Loko District, stating how the project will help to prevent Gender Based Violence against adolescent girls in rural schools and communities.
She maintained that this is not the first training that the organization has undertaken continuing that they are committed to promote issues related to women and girls as it is a way of building human capital development.
One of the facilitators, Sajor Bah, Deputy Chairperson of WOLAFOSUD took the pupils through teenage pregnancy, admonishing them to abstain from sexual activities and concentrate on their academic works instead of engaging in boyfriend and girlfriend relationships.
The facilitator maintained that they must report any sexual harassment by any male stressing that teenage pregnancy can destroy their beautiful future. She continued that there are several other complications that are related to teenage pregnancy citing fistula as an example.
She also touched on early marriage saying girls must not allow their parents or anybody else to force them into early marriage revealing that there are laws that protect girls from such evil practices, and how early marriage will lead to teenage pregnancy and that will lead to them not be able to fulfill their dreams.
One of the pupils stated, on behalf of her colleagues, that they appreciate the organization for organizing such a training and how they will go back and implement what they have learnt and become a positive influencers.
The focal teachers that represented their schools were pivotal in all the training sessions as they assured the organization that they will reinforce the knowledge and skills acquired in their respective schools.
One of the teachers commended the organization on behalf of her colleagues stating that it was timely as teenage pregnancy and early marriage have long been social problems affecting girls in not only their chiefdom but the country as a whole.
The training was climaxed with the participants asking questions that were responded to and vice versa.
